Let’s talk about ThinkIts, and how they’re a great help for your students’ learning and to start your lessons off with.
Tell Me More… ThinkIts
ThinkIts are cross-curricular teacher-led tools designed to encourage critical thinking in the classroom. ThinkIts can be used as a lesson warm-up or to elicit students’ higher-order thinking skills.
Miss Casey, a teacher from Barking Abbey School, has shared how and why she uses ThinkIts at the start of a lesson: “ThinkIts are a great way of starting the lesson, so as soon as students walk into the room, they are being challenged. They also develop team-working skills as quite often I put the students into groups to solve the ThinkIt. The vast range on offer makes them very flexible too!”
Why Are ThinkIts Great to Use at the Start of a Lesson…
- Encourages critical thinking: students are being challenged when they use ThinkIts to think for themselves on certain topics, which is great for mastery.
- Great for teamwork: you can put them up on the whiteboard, or use the Print option (like Miss Casey does) to encourage students to work together and build skills.
- Students are engaged: because your students have begun the lesson actively critically thinking after using a ThinkIt, they’ll feel engaged and ready to begin the lesson.
Where Can I Find ThinkIts?
EducationCity has ThinkIts throughout all the subjects on EducationCity so all you need to do is go to the Curriculum Map or click on a subject to find them – simple!
ThinkIts to Try…
Here are a few ThinkIts you can try with your students – but don’t forget about the whole range which is on EducationCity.
Key Stage 1
English
Capital Words – Think of words that always start with a capital letter.
- England: Year 1
- Scotland: Early ***
- Wales: Year 1
- N. Ireland: P2
Maths
Recognising Coins – Match the coins to the objects that they can buy.
- England: Year 1
- Scotland: Early ***
- Wales: Year 1
- N. Ireland: P2
Science
Garden Animals – What animals do you think Manu could find in the garden?
- England: Year 2
- Scotland: First *
- Wales: Year 2
- N. Ireland: P3
Key Stage 2
English
Rhyming Verse: Row Your Boat – Create your own verses by looking at the words you need to rhyme.
- England: Year 3
- Scotland: First **
- Wales: Year 3
- N. Ireland: P4
Maths
Rally Times – Find out who won the race, by putting the times taken for each rally team to complete the race, in order.
- England: Year 5
- Scotland: Second *
- Wales: Year 5
- N. Ireland: P6
Science
The Path of Light – How will the light travel when Manu switches the torch on? What will happen when it hits the mirror?
- England: Year 6
- Scotland: Second **
- Wales: Year 6
- N. Ireland: P7